Deep Roots
by Rurouni Idoru
Summary: One-shot: Youko Kurama's a cocky young fox, just starting his career as a thief. When his carelessness gets him caught by a hungry youkai, could it change his life?


Deep Roots  
  
by the Rurouni Idoru  
  
A/N: I know you're probably asking yourself who Kireihana is. Well, juts you wait, I'll tell you all about her, and how she's relevant to my little Alternate Universe. But, that's a time for another story. First, we gotta meet her. ||\^_^/|| Anyways, I know that kitsune can, in fact, have one elemental power, but the kitsune in YYH don't really seem to...not that Koto fights or anything, but still. I just don't think Kurama was actually a plant elemental. I think that these skills were learned, since he doesn't really seem to use his body for anything involving plants as much as he does his youki. When he does use his body it's only in martial arts, or at least that's what I've noticed. Oh, and before you complain that I left elements out in Kireihana's rant, read this: 1: Not all of them seem to apply in Yu Yu Hakusho. It's not my fault the anime isn't compliant with old folktales and legends. 2: There was no way I was going through every element in one fornicatin' paragraph. (Go look up fornication, and get your mind into the gutter if you don't get it. I promise, you will.) And 3: Kireihana left them out, not me. I know they're there. Kireihana's ignorant. :P.  
  
Disclaimer: We oughta know I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, nor do I know anyone who does.m If I DID, this story wouldn't be allowed on fanfiction.net.  
  
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Kireihana the plant youkai sat back and admired her handiwork. Using a vine she had produced herself, she had designed a trap for something to eat. After not eating for three days, she was about ready to try anything. And she was hoping that something edible would wander into her trap. She sunk into the bushes and waited.  
  
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Youko Kurama the kitsune was on the prowl. He was not hunting prey or enemies, but something much more precious. Something shiny and expensive. Something he intended to have for free. He could move far faster in his fox form than in his humanoid form, and was much stealthier to boot. Naturally, he would have to be careful of any hunters that would be after foxes, but he always was. Attentive to the ground, no. Careful of hunters, yes.  
  
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The vine lay in a lonely ring on the ground. Kireihana yawned. Her stomach growled loudly and piteously.  
  
"Eh, shaddap." It was at that point that she decided that some conversation would be a good idea to sustain her. Even if it was with herself. "Y'know, how long is it gonna take before some stupid animal wanders into the dern thing and--" She cut herself off. She had heard rustling. Her pointed ears perked up, and her sky-blue, angular eyes lit up like a child's. Dinner was coming! The silver-white creature sped through the forest. Three paws missed the trap. But the fourth...Snap. The fox was quickly hanging by a hind leg. Kireihana eagerly tried to jump up and catch the creature, but, due to the fact that she was sitting in bushes, she couldn't quite do that. She turned around and tried to tug her knee-length honey-blonde hair out of the branches. As soon as she got unstuck, she saw not a normal fox, but a kitsune in a form that bore a resemblance to a human. And he was a very good-looking kitsune at that. And he was swearing.  
  
"Annoying...how could I miss...stupid trap...accursed ankle..."  
  
"Holy crap!" Kireihana yelled, distraught. "You're not dinner!" The kitsune shot her a dirty look.  
  
"Very perceptive." She dashed over and snapped the vine apart, letting the kitsune drop to the ground.  
  
"What I meant was, I wasn't quite expecting a kitsune to get caught in my trap...rather careless, wasn't it?" He tore the vine from his ankle.  
  
"First of all, shut up. Secondly, I could kill you, you know. And thirdly, I'm not just any kitsune. I am the thief, Youko Kurama." Kireihana blinked.  
  
"Uh, okay, first of all, I don't have to listen to you, it's MY trap. Secondly, I'd like to see you try. And thirdly, should I have heard of you? Maybe you're a little famous in a few cities, but I kinda don't live there, I wouldn't know." Kurama glared at her.  
  
"I'll let you off easy this time, since you're a confused, defenseless little girl." Kireihana's indifferent expression turned angry.  
  
" Confused?!" She held her head up high and threw her shoulders back, obviously very sure of herself. "Defenseless?!" She created a vine from her right palm, and whipped it around like a bullwhip. "Little girl?!" She bore down on Kurama, and stood about his height. "I, Kireihana, have not been a 'confused, defenseless little girl' for many years now! And anyone who says otherwise..." She grabbed the vine with her left hand and pulled it taut. "They usually get proven wrong." She seemed ready to fight, and more than that, ready to win. Kurama was intrigued. Not scared, perhaps, but intrigued at least. He smiled a bit.  
  
"After that display, I'm not entirely sure you shouldn't be on the Most Wanted list. In fact, I think I may have seen you on it." She loosened up a little and smirked back.  
  
"Well, I'm sure I've never seen you on that list." She withdrew the vine back into her hand.  
  
"You watch. One day, the name Youko Kurama will be feared by all youkai the Makai over."  
  
"Now honestly, why would you want to be a thief anyway? Such a dark profession." Kurama shrugged.  
  
"What else is there to do? Better to become a famous and revered criminal than a nameless do-gooder. Only the evil make it into the history books."  
  
"That's not what I think." Kireihana's narrow eyes glazed over dreamily. "I think that if you do good, if you help just one person survive...that's all you need. As long as someone always remembers who you are...that's all the fame I need. After all, what good is having everyone know who you are if you can't show your face in public because of it?" Kurama briefly considered this. "Of course, you won't become too famous by stepping into traps set by hungry plant youkai," Her stomach, again, moaned. She, again, told it to shut up. She sat down on the ground cheerily.  
  
"That's all that was?"  
  
"You couldn't get out of it, either. Oooh, how fast your tale will end if you can't escape a tiny rope trap made from vine!" Kireihana was seething with delight. Obviously, catching people's mistakes was her idea of fun.  
  
"Well, what do you expect me to do? Swords and knives will only weigh me down." Kireihana pondered. She sat down and chewed on a lock of hair from her two large bangs.  
  
"Hmm. Seems to me that your only strengths are speed and, I'm assuming, hand-to-hand combat. Meaning, if you're thrown into a trap or ambushed, you're done for. What you need is an ability or item you can manipulate." Kurama raised an eyebrow and joined Kireihana on the ground.  
  
"So what do you propose I do?" Kireihana began to think again.  
  
"Hmm...there's fire, but that's pretty messy and all over the place. Hard to control, y'know? Water won't do much good...Wind's good for big, wide-open battle, but no good for little tasks. Ice is okay, but easily defeated by fire, and way overdone anyway."  
  
"Which leaves..."  
  
"Precisely! Plants are easily manipulated for many things. They make a strong offense and defense. Good for little things. They come in varieties from razor-sharp leaves and thorns to long-reaching vines and branches. And better still, Youko Kurama, I'm willing to teach you to use them." Kurama thought for a moment. While she had nearly attacked him, he now realized it was only because he had insulted her. Perhaps she was gentle if you stayed on her good side? She seemed innocent enough. A bit childlike, even. Maybe it was a mistake to trust her so quickly, but he couldn't help it. Besides, he could use the training...Kurama smiled.  
  
"Then you should just call me Kurama. It's easier." Kireihana smiled warmly, then appeared shrewd.  
  
"One condition, however." Kurama raised his eyebrows. "We get something to eat. Now." Kurama smiled. Kireihana repeated the gesture. Their smiles blossomed into laughs, for reasons neither one of them knew or cared about. Kireihana's stomach growled again. "Shut UP already!" Kurama smiled at her. He could feel the eccentricty radiating from her already. And he sort of liked it. She was different. She would definitely be...interesting to work with.  
  
"So, all I have to do is get you some food, and you'll teach me how to use plants?" Kireihana nodded her head once.  
  
"I'm nice that way." Kurama's smile widened.  
  
"Then it appears, by your definition of fame, that you've just become famous." Kireihana's grin spread to show her teeth.  
  
"It's all the fame I'll ever need."  
  
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A/N: So, there's my take on it. But be warned, although THIS story is a one-shot, Kireihana'll be in more. She actually becomes an important plot point in Bara's story. *nods* Please, please, I beseech you, review, review! I need critique! Wai! 


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